The KlezmerShack calendar - Jewish music events around the world, along with other music events that sound interesting - all the events I have time to post.

A lid un a tfile: an evening of Jewish Music, Toronto, Canada, Jan 19

A Lid Un A Tfile: An Evening of Jewish Music

A Lid Un A Tfile: A celebration of the diversity of Jewish music, with traditional doinas and Yiddish Songs as well as original music such as Osvaldo Golijov' Tenebrae, John Zorn's Kol Nidre and Sergei Prokofiev's Overture on Hebrew Themes, plus more original Yiddish songs by David Wall and Marilyn Lerner.

Art of Time Ensemble, Artistic Director and pianist Andrew Burashko's innovative chamber group, is pleased to present An Evening of Jewish Music: A Lid Un A Tfile - A Song and a Prayer, January 18 & 19, 2007 at 8pm at Harbourfront Centre Theatre, 231 Queens Quay West.

This soulful and tuneful exploration of Eastern European-inspired music, new and old, features, along with the Art of Time Ensemble, the most outstanding musicians in Canada who use their Jewish roots as a springboard for their cutting-edge interpretations on the genre: David Buchbinder (trumpet), Marilyn Lerner (piano), Martin van de Ven and Lori Freedman (clarinets) and David Wall and Monica Whicher (singers). Abstract film imagery by Jarek Obsadny accompanies some of the music.

Burashko chose the subtitle - A Lid Un A Tfile, translated as A Song And A Prayer - in honor of the importance music plays in Jewish religious and secular life and to celebrate the diversity of Jewish music today. The concert explores Ashkenazi (Eastern-European Jewry) musical themes in a diverse array of compositions ranging from traditional doinas (traditional song/chant) and classical compositions such as Osvaldo Golijov's Tenebrae, John Zorn's Kol Nidre and Sergei Prokofiev's Overture on Hebrew Themes to traditional and original klezmer and folk tunes by Wall and Lerner and jazzy scores and improvisations by Buchbinder and van de Ven.

Truly, this is an evening of music not to be missed. Whether it be traditional, avant-garde or classical, each piece echoes its rich Jewish roots. One of the highlights of this evening filled with brilliance is that each half closes with a different treatment of the same Hebrew musical themes: Act One with traditional klezmer-inspired riffing from Buchbinder, Lerner and van de Ven; Act Two with Prokofiev's version of the same themes in his classical Overture on Hebrew Themes performed Burashko and the Art of Time Ensemble.